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Is Shelley Berkley within Sheldon Adelson’s reach now?

The feud between Berkley and Adelson dates back to the late 1990s. | AP Photo

The disagreements came to a head in May 1997, when Adelson — in a rather demonstrable fashion — fired Berkley. The pair then fought publicly, deepening the rift.

In 1998, Adelson spent heavily against Berkley in her first congressional run. During the campaign, memos and an audio tape emerged in which Berkley advised Adelson to give favors to judges and county commissioners in return for favorable treatment.

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Despite Adelson’s efforts, Berkley won that race fairly easily.

The road ahead for Berkley in the Senate race isn’t so easy.

Polls in the Senate race show Heller and Berkley neck and neck. She has a potential recognition problem in northern Nevada, where she isn’t particularly well-known. He has a challenge in blunting her popularity in Clark County.

Most observers expect the race to depend heavily on the strength of the two parties’ presidential campaigns and that it will draw a considerable amount of outside spending as both parties battle for control of the Senate.

Neither the Berkley nor the Heller campaign had much, if anything, to say about Adelson. Heller’s campaign didn’t respond to questions before deadline.

Berkley campaign spokesman Eric Koch said she is focused on other issues, such as creating jobs and “standing up to Washington politicians.”

But Democratic sources caution against overstating the impact of Adelson’s money in a race that is going to draw significant outside spending no matter what. That spending and spending in the presidential race will quickly saturate Nevada airwaves, making it difficult for Adelson to fund television ads.

Democrats also relish the thought of turning the race into a Berkley versus Adelson campaign.

“Is it easier to go up against easygoing, good-looking Dean Heller or a billionaire who is trying to buy a Senate seat?” asked one Democratic operative. “If [Adelson] gets that level of visibility, if he becomes the issue, it could actually be a benefit to her.”

Republicans dismiss the idea that Adelson’s money won’t make a difference in the race. He is becoming an increasingly important Republican donor — one who Republicans will want to keep happy.

“You have a donor who has said he might spend $100 million this cycle, and so far, he’s only spent a fifth of that,” said a Republican strategist. “And he’s here in the state to see how it is actually spent.”

Still, even though Democrats try to distract from Adelson’s potential influence in the race, they acknowledge he’ll be a factor.

“Yeah, it’ll be her toughest race for a lot of reasons,” the Democratic strategist said. “Sheldon’s only one of them.”

Anjeanette Damon writes for the Las Vegas Sun, which is partnering with POLITICO to cover the 2012 presidential election.

Adelson is a piece of Zionist Vermin. His money was spent on the PR effort to get the US to go to Iraq. Why? Because Adelson, like most Zionists, believed Iraq was a threat to Israeli dominance of the Middle East. Adelson, along with other Zionists more loyal to Israel than America, pumped millions into Neocpn groups that pushed for the war. as a result, thousands of young Americans are dead or maimed. Are any of Adelson's children serving there? I doubt it.

How can this homely man get away wit half of the things he gets away with in business...his foreign casino interests above all..how much did he pay Scalia and the other Supreme court justices to pass Citizens United...Please, please, if there is justice in this world..let this worm get punished for his greed and misdeeds....